Once a star in Vermont, Devon Teuscher now a principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre

Former South Burlington resident Devon Teuscher earned a leading role last spring in “Swan Lake.” She was also selected to be a principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre's 2017-18 season. (Note: Due to union rules, music and scene do not match.)
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Former South Burlington resident Devon Teuscher as Odette in the American Ballet Theatre production of "Swan Lake."(Photo: COURTESY GENE SCHIAVONE)

It seemed a fait accompli to many who knew her since she was 15 that Devon Teuscher would be a professional ballet dancer on the brightest of stages. Teuscher, though, had her doubts.

“I’m a very realistic person,” she said, “so there were many moments along 13 years where I thought, ‘This is never going to happen to me.’”

The former South Burlington resident joined American Ballet Theatre at age 17, spent seven years in the supporting cast known as the corps de ballet and another four as a soloist. She reached the top rung this year, when the New York-based company made her a principal dancer after her leading role last spring in “Swan Lake.” She was also selected in July to be a principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre's 2017-18 season. She will perform in productions next spring including “La Bayadere” and “Romeo and Juliet” at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.

Speaking to the Burlington Free Press last week from Orange County, California, where American Ballet Theatre is staging a production of “The Nutcracker,” Teuscher acknowledged she was awestruck to be selected as a principal dancer, fulfilling a goal she had since she was 8 years old.

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Devon Teuscher, 15 when this photo was taken in 2004, was one of 25 students nationwide to earn a scholarship to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in New York City.(Photo: FREE PRESS FILE)

“The first reaction I had was a little bit terrified, honestly,” Teuscher said. “Finally someone hands it to you it’s like, ‘Wait a second, are you sure? I don’t know what to do with this now.’ It’s a very overwhelming experience.”

Teuscher, whose parents still live in South Burlington, returns to Vermont this weekend to perform the lead role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Vermont Ballet Theater and School’s production of “The Nutcracker.” She was a rising star with the Essex-based training school in 2004 when American Ballet Theatre offered her a scholarship to its Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, setting her professional career in motion.

Alexander Nagiba, artistic director of Vermont Ballet Theater, said Teuscher had the physical gifts and the determination to make it big. “She was an extremely hard worker, that’s number one, and she was really driven,” Nagiba said. “In this field you have to eat, drink and sleep ballet to get there.”

Devon Tesucher in the American Ballet Theatre production of "Giselle."(Photo: COURTESY GENE SCHIAVONE)

The Burlington Free Press profiled Teuscher in 2004 after she received the American Ballet Theatre scholarship. “Everything about Devon Teuscher says ‘ballet star,’” the opening sentence of that article noted.

“She’s one of the unique talents you don’t see very often in the world,” Nagiba told the Burlington Free Press in 2004. “She’s going to become a star.”

Teuscher was profiled by The New York Times in June following her New York leading-role debut in “Swan Lake.” Writer Gia Kourlas referred to her as “a poised, long-necked beauty” expertly using her nearly 5-foot-7-inch frame.

“Ms. Teuscher is the complete package,” Kourlas wrote, “a mixture of astonishing technique, grandeur and ease. She doesn’t show you how she’s dancing a role; rather, she embodies it with a natural vivacity of breathtaking coordination and elegant strength.”

Kevin McKenzie, who recently marked his 25th anniversary as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre, saw that potential in Teuscher before she joined the company. “Devon has literally grown up from an incredibly talented young girl to a full-blown artist with a technical and musical command that most established artists would envy,” McKenzie said in an email last week to the Burlington Free Press.

Devon Teuscher in the American Ballet Theatre production of "Le Corsaire."(Photo: COURTESY ROSALIE O'CONNOR)

McKenzie, a Burlington native, is the youngest of 11 children in the family that founded the McKenzie meat company. “My family is still there,” he said in the email. “My sister Maureen actually spotted Devon and noted to me years ago that there was an amazingly talented kid at VBT she had just seen. That kid turned out to be Devon.”

Teuscher said Nagiba and the Vermont Ballet Theater staff showed ballet videos to her and cast her in male roles to expand her knowledge and repertoire. “I think he (Nagiba) honestly just wanted to challenge me, to push me – ‘She can jump, she can turn, she can do those things, so why not?’” she said. “I appreciate that because it taught me whatever I was asked, I would just do it.”

Teuscher and Nagiba have long talked about her coming back for a Vermont Ballet Theater performance. He went to New York to watch her star turn in “Swan Lake” and they finally agreed to make her return happen for this weekend’s production of “The Nutcracker.”

“This year has been very successful for me,” Teuscher said. “To come back and be an example to a lot of kids while I’m there is very exciting. Hopefully I can show the work will pay off if you work hard at it. To come back and perform is special.”

Nagiba said he felt tremendous pride seeing Teuscher in “Swan Lake” in New York.

“Oh, my God, yes. I was in tears watching her the whole time,” he said. “She is truly the dream-come-true girl who made it. Consider how many thousands of dancers, millions around the world, who have the dream to be dancers, and she did it.”